SCIENCE -Supplement. 



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1886. 



PRELIMINARY NOTE OF AN ANALYSIS OF 

 THE MEXICAN CODICES AND GRAVEN 

 INSCRIPTIONS.' 



I WISH to make a statement of a few of the 

 results I have recently obtained by a translation 

 into the Nahuatl language of the phonetic sym- 

 bols contained in the Vienna codex and the Bod- 

 leian and Selden manuscripts. I find that these 

 entire codices are composed of signs representing 

 parts of speech, forming, in combination, words 

 and sentences. Moreover, I have discovered cer- 

 tain determinative signs that render a misinter- 

 pretation of these picture-writings impossible. 



The Vienna codex, the Bodleian and Selden 

 manuscripts, are records of lands, tributes, tithes, 

 and taxes. A partial decipherment of portions of 

 the Borgian, Vatican, and Fejervary codices con- 

 vinces me that these do not relate, as has been 

 supposed and is maintained, to astrological and 

 exclusively religious matters, but deal with the 

 details of a communal form of government, the 

 existence of which has been suggested by some 

 recent writers, but not sufficiently proved to be 

 generally accepted. 



The as yet imperfect insight I have obtained 

 through these native works confirms and com- 

 pletes much of the testimony of the early Spanish 

 writers, but also renders evident the false and dis- 

 torted impressions they received and handed 

 down. 



Familiarity w^ith certain phonetic symbols 

 of frequent recurrence in the picture-writings 

 caused me to perceive, somewhat to my astonish- 

 ment, that identical symbols are reproduced on 

 the so-called 'calendar stone,' the 'sacrificial 

 stone,' and other equally well known monoUths. 

 Through the decipherment of these and an appli- 

 cation of the same method to other symbols en- 

 graved thereon, I unhesitatingly afifirm, even at 

 this early stage of investigation, that these graven 

 monoliths are not what they have hitherto been 

 considered. On them are Nahuatl words that are 

 found in the codices in Sahagun's invaluable ' His- 

 toria,' and in other early chronicles where imper- 

 fect explanations of them are given ; and these 

 words reveal, beyond doubt, the true uses and 

 purposes of the stones. 



1 Read before the American association for the advance- 

 ment of science at Buffalo, August, 1886. 



Let us cursorily examine the testimony of the 

 best authorities on a certain point. Duran tells 

 us distinctly that there was in each market-place 

 of ancient Mexico a circular, elaborately carved 

 tablet, held in great veneration. It was frequent- 

 ly consulted, and by it the market-days were reg- 

 ulated. All writers concur in stating that the 

 market was held on each fifth day. According to 

 them, a period of five days answered to our week, 

 and four such divisions formed the period of 

 twenty days termed the Mexican month. They 

 tell us that all adults were obliged by law to re- 

 sort to the appointed market-place on each fifth 

 day, and that all produce and manufactures had 

 to be brought there, even from great distances, 

 severe penalties being incurred by those who bar- 

 tered the produce of land or labor on the highway 

 or elsewhere. On the broad, straight, cemented 

 roads leading to the locality of each market, ' rest- 

 ing-places ' for the wayfarers and' carriers were 

 provided at regular intervals ; and, by the number 

 of such stopping-places between one point and an- 

 other, distances were estimated. 



The enormous concourse of people, the variety 

 of produce exhibited, and the order that prevailed 

 in the markets of Mexico and Tlatelolco, filled the 

 conqueror with wonder and admiration. From 

 Cortes, Bernal Diaz, Sahagun, and others, we 

 learn that the market was a special charge of the 

 supreme chief of Mexico ; that appointed ofiicers 

 presided in state over it, while others moved 

 among the throng superintending the traffic. 

 Standard measures wei'e kept, and rigorous pun- 

 ishment awaited those who sold by false measure 

 or bartered stolen goods. 



It is my opinion, and one that I can support by 

 a mass of further corroborative evidence, that the 

 periodical market-day was the most important 

 regulator of the Mexican social organization, and 

 that the monolith generally known as the calendar- 

 stone was the market-stone of the City of Mexico. 

 It bears the record of fixed market-days ; and I 

 venture to suggest that from these the formation 

 of the Mexican calendar system originated. The 

 stone shows the existence of communal property 

 and of an equal division of general contributions 

 into certain portions. I find, moreover, that the 

 face enclosed in the inner circle of the tablet is a 

 rebus. "When its several parts are interpreted by 

 the phonetic elements they represent, a sentence 

 is obtained which clearly shows the use of the tab- 

 let. Of this sentence I shall submit but two 



